New dental treatment will make our teeth rebuild themselves

London scientist have invented a filling that encourages teeth to repair themselves without the need for a drill or injection.

Scientists at King's College in London could make your fear of the dental chair a thing of the past with a new pain-free filling.

Currently when you go for a filling the dentist will inject you with a gigantic numbing needle, and then will drill out all of your tooth decay, and plug the hole left behind with amalgam (silver filling) or composite resin (white filling).

With the new treatment that these scientists have developed all of this could soon become a thing of the past. The new technique is called Electrically Accelerated and Enhanced Remineralisation (EAER), and it dramatically speeds up the transfer of essential minerals into our damaged teeth.

The treatment will first prepare the damaged area of enamel, and then through an electric current minerals such as calcium and phosphate will be moved to the tooth and much higher speeds than if they were allowed to move naturally.

Professor Nigel Pitts, from King's College Dental Institute, said: "The way we treat teeth today is not ideal. When we repair a tooth by putting in a filling, that tooth enters a cycle of drilling and re-filling as, ultimately, each repair fails.

"Not only is our device kinder to the patient and better for their teeth, but it’s expected to be at least as cost-effective as current dental treatments."

A company called Reminova Ltd will now take over the research of the new treatment with the hope that new investment can be found to help develop EAER further. It is estimated it could be three years before we see the treatment in action, and with current dental prices, who knows how much it will cost for a single treatment.

Alex Dodd

Alex is a third year sports journalism student at Staffordshire University. As well as his love for sport he has a huge passion for technology and always has his eye on the breaking news in the tech world.